Cerritos College

What sets Norwalk apart from many other cities is that it has its own college. However, the name of it is not Norwalk College, but Cerritos, the name of a neighboring town. Long Beach City College is not named Lakewood College, nor is Cerritos Auto Square named the Norwalk Auto Square. In addition, when someone says he goes to Cerritos College, no one asks, "By any chance do you know what city that's in?" That's because they simply assume by the name that the college is in Cerritos.

St. John Bosco, coming off a 16-0 season, will open its football season on Aug. 22 in Hawaii against Hawaii St. Louis at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. The Braves also have games against Norwalk on the road on Sept. 5, hosting Oregon Central Catholic on Sept. 12, on the road at Nevada Bishop Gorman on Sept. 26 and at Crenshaw on Oct. 3. St. John Bosco opens Trinity League play on Oct. 10 at home against Santa Ana Mater Dei. The showdown game on its schedule could be Oct. 31 against Servite at Cerritos College.

In a continuing effort to expand college preparation services for low-income and minority students, the ABC Unified School District has applied for $65,000 in state Department of Education funds. If the application is approved, the district will use the money to train 10 teachers to provide additional training to 9th and 10th grade students already participating in the College Aspiration Partnership Program, said Harvey Hoyo, district coordinator for special programs and services.

The football spring/summer season begins to get busy starting with Saturday's Nike SPARQ Combine at Cerritos College. High school players will be getting tested, and they've added seventh and eighth graders (can't wait to see who gets a scholarship offer in junior high). Eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Assemblyman Bob Epple (D-Norwalk) has named Cerritos College board member Ada Steenhoek woman of the year in the 63rd Assembly District for being "such an outstanding member of our community." Steenhoek has served on the Cerritos College board since 1985, and is a special-education instructor for the Downey Unified School District. A long-time Downey resident and mother of 10 children, Steenhoek has been active in many community organizations, including the Boy Scouts.

Officials at Cerritos College in Norwalk have been urged by a group of students to hire more minority faculty members and to add more ethnic courses to the curriculum. The students said they are upset because the faculty is predominantly Anglo, while about two-thirds of the nearly 19,000 students are minorities. The issue surfaced recently when a black instructor, who was teaching part time, was not interviewed for a full-time position as a history teacher.

The first phase of a $10,000 study to determine how Cerritos College can best serve its district is nearly complete, said Janice Dennis-Rounds, school director of research and development. Objectives of the random survey, which is done every five years, include trying to determine what programs are preferred in the community, making the community aware of college programs and finding out why people are not attending the college.

Enrollment jumped 6.7% at Cerritos College, with 19,415 students registering for the fall semester compared to the same period in 1987 when 18,186 students registered, said Mark Wallace, director of public information. Enrollment was expected to climb even higher because of an additional registration period being offered for the first time by the Norwalk-based college, Wallace said. The regular fall semester opened Aug. 22.

Cerritos Community College will host the 15th annual Tabor-Venitsky Invitational Speech Tournament on Friday and Saturday. More than 18 community colleges are expected to participate in the tournament, which is aimed at sharpening students' skills for state and national contests to be held later in the year. The tournament will begin at 10 a.m. Friday and conclude at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Marijon Ancich, California's winningest high school football coach, has resigned at Santa Fe Springs St. Paul to take the position of defensive coordinator at Cerritos College. Ancich, 70, coached at St. Paul from 1961 to '81 and from 1993 to 2005 and at Tustin from 1984 to '92. He compiled a record of 344-127-10. His teams won 19 league championships and appeared in eight Southern Section finals, winning the Big Five Conference title in 1981 and Division AAAA championships in '72 and '68.

When Ed Azzam started coaching basketball at Westchester High in the late 1970s, the City Section was in a golden era. Willie West was a towering figure at Crenshaw High. Reggie Morris Sr. was holding his own at Manual Arts. Fremont and Dorsey had strong programs. So did Palisades and Granada Hills Kennedy. Azzam, in his early 20s, was trying to build a program from scratch. "I don't like losing and oftentimes the games weren't competitive," he said. "I developed the philosophy our goal wasn't to become Crenshaw or beat Crenshaw.

Fou Fonoti is the only player from California on Michigan State's roster. The senior right tackle from Lakewood said Sunday that he had entertained about 50 family members since arriving in Southern California for Wednesday's Rose Bowl game against Stanford. "It's been great to share this experience," he said. The 6-foot-4, 298-pound Fonoti played at Lakewood Mayfair High and Cerritos College before choosing Michigan State over UCLA, Arizona, Washington State and Rutgers.

Michigan State linebacker Denicos Allen is enjoying the Southern California sunshine as the Spartans prepare for the Rose Bowl against Stanford. "It's definitely a big change, you know, coming from an ice storm to nice palm trees and nice weather -- it's an amazing change," said Allen, a fifth-year senior from Hamilton, Ohio. "I got off the plane ... thinking it's going to be cold because I'm used to getting off the plane in like Wisconsin or Indiana. "I got all ready to be cold and it was warm.

Michigan State will be without middle linebacker Max Bullough against Stanford in the 100th Rose Bowl game, but Spartans defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi is eager to see who steps up in his place. Bullough, a team captain, was suspended for violating unspecified team rules. "I've seen what No. 40 [Bullough] has done for years and I don't remember the last game we had a different [middle linebacker] in there," Narduzzi said Friday. "But I'm anxious to see what someone else can do at that position.

Corona Centennial has battled back to tie St. John Bosco, 21-21, at halftime of the Open Division regional bowl game at Cerritos College. Robert Webber hit Barry Ware with a five-yard touchdown pass with six seconds left in the second quarter on fourth-and-goal, then made a two-point conversion pass. Webber has been burning the Braves' secondary, escaping the pass rush and connecting with Ware, who also has a 46-yard TD reception. Webber earlier passed five yards for a touchdown to Greyson Bankhead.

An assistant football coach at Cerritos College was arrested Monday on felony charges of obtaining more than $150,000 in federal grants for 13 players who were ineligible for financial aid, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said. Patrick Callahan, 57, defensive coordinator and coach of defensive backs at Cerritos, was taken into custody at his home in Artesia on a complaint charging him with 13 counts of conspiracy and 13 counts of grand theft, Deputy Dist. Atty.

The state auditor's office is set to investigate mismanagement allegations at Cerritos College in response to a unanimous vote this week by the state Joint Legislative Audit Committee. Requested by Assemblywoman Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk), the audit will look into accusations that officials at the Norwalk campus violated state policies regarding budgeting, conflict of interest, shared governance and student attendance reporting, state Auditor Kurt Sjoberg said.

Unbeaten St. John Bosco got a 47-yard touchdown run from Sean McGrew on its second offensive play to take a 7-0 lead over Corona Centennial in the CIF state regional Open Division bowl game at Cerritos College. Then McGrew added a 17-yard touchdown run, and the Braves lead, 14-0. Centennial defense is getting dominated by the St. John Bosco offensive line. Eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Sophomore running back Sean McGrew of St. John Bosco obliterated the school record book on Saturday night during the Braves' 70-49 victory over Corona Centennial in the CIF State Open Division regional bowl game at Cerritos College. He scored seven touchdowns and rushed for 367 yards in 17 carries. St. John Bosco will play De La Salle in Saturday's Open Division final at StubHub Center. Josh Rosen passed for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Centennial quarterback Robert Webber passed for five touchdowns.